Define Your Personal Brand Values

Values help you establish your sense of purpose and direction for your personal brand. They act as guideposts that assist you in evaluating choices in your life.

Values are the emotional currency of your life. They are the core principles that give meaning to your life and are defined as a set of standards that determine your attitudes, choices, and actions. Values change as you change; they reflect what’s important to you at any given moment.

For example, if you value your frankness and your partner does, too, but doesn’t have tact, you might then change and start valuing diplomacy more.

The quickest way to determine whether a value has been violated is to notice what things have ever made you feel angry. Think about a time when something felt wrong to you. Did someone cross an important line for you that did not mesh with something you value?

Your deepest values, and the ones that often stay with you the longest, are your intrinsic values. Intrinsic values are ends in themselves, such as happiness or integrity. They are the guiding principles by which you lead your life.

Values drive you and help you commit to your life. Often, the reason people are unhappy at work is because their values no longer align with their work. When you’re crafting a personal brand, you must understand your core values because they are the heart of who you are.

The following list of values can help you think about what is important to you. Here’s an exercise: Write your top ten values on ten separate pieces of paper. Then, one by one, you must throw away one piece of paper by considering which values are the greatest priorities.

In the end, you are left with just one piece of paper: your most important value. This exercise is very impactful, so if you’re in the mood, find a friend or two to do this with.

Even if you don’t do the exercise with anyone else, take the time to identify your top ten values from the list below. Start by identifying all the values that feel like they belong to you. Then select the ten that are the most important.

Make note of your values because you can then use them to build your mission statement.